Why Urwerk's watchmakers are rebels with a cause

It is intriguing that this niche company has become a favourite of certain A-list celebrities — seemingly without even trying, and while focusing its energies on crafting esoteric creations characterised by shield-shaped cases and time displays featuring rotating, 3D satellites.

Those are already its more accessible designs. It would take a true watch nerd to fully appreciate highly technical Urwerk creations such as the AMC, a system where an atomic master clock automatically winds, sets and regulates a mechanical watch. Urwerk made and sold three units, priced at US$2.7 million (S$3.8 million) each.

Helmed by Baumgartner and his co-founder and chief designer Martin Frei, Urwerk is one of the most established names in contemporary independent fine watchmaking, with demand growing greatly in recent years. And yet, it has managed to maintain an edgy, underground quality, even after a quarter of a century.

With a smile, Baumgartner says, “Our mindset now is the same as it was 25 years ago. We are not rebels without a cause, but rebels with a cause. And the cause is to bring haute horlogerie into the modern age. Urwerk has proven in the last 25 years that you can imagine a new form of watchmaking today while keeping in mind the culture, history, and milestones of the past.”

For instance, an Urwerk signature, the wandering-hours mechanism, which shows hours through revolving discs, dates back to the 1600s. It was created by the Campani brothers, who used it in a night clock for Pope Alexander VII. In the early 1990s, Audemars Piguet created its version of the complication for its long-discontinued Star Wheel wristwatches.

Urwerk has put a forward-looking, sci-fi-esque stamp on it since 1997. The latest example of this is the UR-120 Spock, which features a new, complex spin on its satellite time displays — each of the rotating cubes showing the hours comprise two parts that separate in a V-shape as they individually spin and rotate, then recombine.
"We are rebels with a cause, and our cause is to bring haute horlogerie into the modern age"
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Every moment counts

UR-120 "Spock" (Photo: Urwerk)

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Not that things have always been smooth-sailing. In 1997, the founders launched their first UR-101 and UR-102 round watches, with a minimalist wandering hour moving across a semi-circular minute track at the top of an otherwise covered dial. Following the tepid reaction to these timepieces, Baumgartner and Frei came close to calling it quits.

However, they persisted and six challenging years later, launched the UR-103, a unique model with a shield form, a wandering-hours time display at the bottom of the dial, and a precision-adjustment “control board” on the back. The design proved to be a hit and set the foundation for Urwerk watches to come.

Another critical milestone occurred in 2005, when the brand worked with Harry Winston to create the Opus V, a 50mm watch featuring a new take on Urwerk’s satellite time display. It was part of a series of revolutionary, collaborative timepieces produced by Harry Winston under its Opus project.

Baumgartner recalls, “It opened up the whole horizon for Urwerk. Before that, we were seen as crazy, young and revolutionary. With the Opus V, we were suddenly known, recognised and respected.”

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